I discovered SLAB while watching Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network. If you follow my reviews, you know I like to hit up some of the restaurants featured on the show. On a recent trip to Austin, we decided to grab some lunch here. This isn't the location on the show, but one of the three locations they have now. We were confused as the address brought us to a bowling alley. We noticed a trailer outside that said SLAB on it but I almost kept driving to another location because it was too hot to eat outside. Driving up, a sign said that a full kitchen was inside. Phew, crisis averted! The bowling did not smell like a typical bowling alley as the wonderful aromas or BBQ filled the air. Sometimes the best food is located in places like this. Customer service was great. Your order at a window and seat yourself anywhere in the bowling alley. They give you a buzzer when your food is ready. I typically order what I see on the show, but I wanted to really test out a variety of their meats. SLAB stands for slow, low and banging, so I was expecting the most tender meats. Their menu is fun with unique, fun names for their creations. They don't do your typical meat plates here. Their thing is BBQ sandwiches and wraps. The only meat they sell a la carte are ribs They do have a few other items available such as nachos, bowls and wings when available. I do believe they sell their meat in bulk to go as well. I went with the SLAB Slammer Trio which came with slider versions of their best sellers. It included the Notorious P.I.G. (pulled pork), TX O.G. (brisket), and Chicken W.A. (shredded chicken). I asked if they could substitute the chicken for a sausage slider and they happily obliged. We also got an order of their smoked gouda mac and cheese and some chips. The food came out quick as expected. I tried the meats first before eating it as a sandwich. Individually, I really liked all the meats especially the brisket. I would've liked it to be a little warmer though. They were very tender, with just the right amount of smoke. As a sandwich, it was overall just ok. If you are a sandwich selling business, you gotta use the best bread. The little slider buns could've maybe used a little toasting or something as they were a little hard and cold. I ended up ditching the top bun and going at them as open faced sandwiched. The mac was outstanding. I don't know if I was just hungry, but I made the comment it was one of the best I had. I washed it all down with some delicious lemonade. I also tried a bite of the ribs from the McDowell sandwich was a take on the McRib. Those ribs were really good.Overall, it was a good lunch. BBQ is definitely a huge business in and around Austin so I have high expectations when having it in the area. The meats were good but I don't think I will go out of my way to come back before trying other places first.
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"Radio is always a great time, it has a good mix of great coffee drinks along with alcoholic beverages, food, and great vibes and community. When the weather is nice, you could sit here for hours. Overall, I've always had a great time sipping on some drinks and catching up with people here. Parking can be tough but we usually park down the road and walk. Only downside is that the line to order drinks can take a while when busy. My iced matcha is always pretty flavorful and comes out relatively fast. There is food from other vendors on site if you get hungry."
"My mai tai came out in a Chinese take out container. Very cute and tasty. Had the brisket wantons for app and they were very cream cheesy and not so much brisket but they were good. My aloha burger with the grilled pineapple was very good. I got the truffle sauce on the side and ditched that in favor of they had 2 other homemade dips... spicy something and a ranch.. Oli would ask for those. The sweet potato waffle fries were a little too skinny so seemed a little well done. Good taste though."
